“This is a great opportunity for us and our employees, helping and serving our customers in the Permian Basin,” he said.

The company has had a local presence for several years and made do with the facilities it had, Rahimian said. The opening of the company’s expanded center “shows our commitment to the region and to or customers. We hope, as the market bounces back we can create more jobs and more opportunities.”

Jared Stone, marketing specialist with Gardner Denver, acknowledged the company has been challenged by the industry downturn.

“That’s why we developed the campaign ‘Challenge Accepted.’ We wanted to communicate to our customers we accept the challenge and will work with them,” he said.

He said the company decided six years ago it wanted to be part of the Permian Basin “in a big way” and even though the industry is in a down cycle, “we still felt it was extremely important for us to invest in this regional repair facility. We’re still seeing activity and we feel when the market comes back we’ll see even more opportunity to serve customers. We’re here today to prepare for tomorrow.”

The center is designed to repair and service oil and gas equipment. Stone said that includes any pump, whether it’s manufactured by Gardner Denver or another manufacturer. Gardner Denver manufactures well-servicing pumps for coiled tubing and drilling pumps, including mud and stimulation and fracturing pumps and positive displacement pumps.

While the center focuses on the Permian Basin, it can expand across the country, Stone said.

It currently employs 50 people, and Stone said the workforce should grow as the market improves.